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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24925024">refuge in high places</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepnest/pseuds/deepnest'>deepnest</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hollow Knight (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:34:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>309</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24925024</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepnest/pseuds/deepnest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's most efficient to learn by doing. And this is for the best, because Hornet doesn't know how to stop.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hornet/Lace (Hollow Knight)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>refuge in high places</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>cw for mention of illness/mild emetophobia</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hornet throws her needle, narrows the world until it is the place where she aims. It is one motion but she knows each part of it until it is perfect.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her arm drawn back, the cold weight forward, the silk catching in her grip. Slight shock of impact and the rush as she pulls the metal free. And then the weight in her claws again. Again. Again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually, the burn in her shoulder. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her voice, caught and carried away by the high, haughty wind, each exhale a battlecry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hatch to the roof opens and shuts behind her. "There you are, ma petite araignée."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hornet whirls, her needle coming free of the disused chimney and held before her, challenge ready before she speaks it, "Let us duel."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Certainly."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lace draws her pin. They fight, all beautiful flickering life in gold and silver, all momentum and neither holding back. So complete is their trust now. Hornet knows this, too, until it is perfect.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it is Hornet who stumbles first, Hornet who, lying flat on her back, uncurls her fist to leave her weapon lying dead weight over her palm and she tips back her head and laughs with the point of Lace's pin hovering harmlessly over her throat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lace drops her weapon, Hornet only knows because she hears it clang against the rooftop. Lace lies down on the stone beside her and wraps an arm over her. Hornet laughs until she's crying, until she feels sick to her stomach. Deeper. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Lace is still there when her tears run out. Hornet had shifted unthinkingly to lie on her side, holding Lace tightly back as her sobs become hiccups and gasps. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She doesn't know what she meant to express, but she knows that Lace will wait with her while she learns, until it is perfect or if it never is.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i may end up making a lacenet drabble/flashfic collection in the end. we'll see</p>
<p>it's three in the morning and i did this on my phone and i won't apologize for it</p></blockquote></div></div>
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